Product information
ABOUT THIS WINE:
Los Loros Listán Negro cuvée comes from mostly Listan Negro vines, plus a little Tintilla and Listan Blanco. The wine is foot-trodden whole cluster before being spontaneously fermented and aged in used French oak barrels for several months before being bottled without fining or filtration and only modest amounts of added SO2. These practices allow for some of the most clean expressions of the grapes.
ABOUT THIS PRODUCER:
Wines from the up-and-coming winemaking region of the Canary Islands are worth exploring! We enjoy the expression of indigenous grapes and sustainable practices from Los Loros.
Juan Francisco Fariña Peréz (known as JuanFra to his friends) is a progressive winemaker in the Valle de Güímar, a small DO along the eastern coast of Tenerife. JuanFra has been making wine in the area since the early 2000s, and has some of the most respectful views on farming and winemaking in the area.
Juan Francisco studied winemaking in Tenerife before taking over the vineyards from his father in 1998. He grows Listán Blanco and Albillo Criollo outside his winery in Arafo. In addition to these two plots, he is also working on recuperating old and abandoned vineyards higher up the mountainside in an area called Las Dehesas. At 1400m elevation, these centenarian Listán Blanco vines are only reachable by a special tractor. These vines are very low yielding and go into one of JuanFra’s most interesting wines, a solera method blanco named “La Bota de Mateo,” aged in an old sherry cask.
Juanfra calls his project Los Loros, after the laurel shrubs that proliferate the upper parts of the Valle de Güímar. Conventional farming is typical in this area of the island, however Juanfra believes in a more holistic style of farming. Favoring a sustainable philosophy, he enjoys showcasing traditional Canarian varietals such as Listán Blanco, Vijariego Blanco, Marmajuelo, Albillo Criollo (no relation to the albillos found on the Peninsula, but a typical varietal found primarily on the island of La Palma) and Listán Negro. He owns most of his own vines, and also works with small farmers in the area, promoting sustainable practices among them. The Los Loros bodega is no bigger than a one car garage, yet Juan Francisco is doing great things in this little-known territory of Tenerife.
